Naled

Naled is an organophosphate (OP) insecticide that has been registered since 1959 for use in the United States. It is used primarily for controlling adult mosquitoes, but naled is also used on food and feed crops, and in greenhouses. When applied in accordance with the rate of application and the safety precautions specified on the label, naled can be used to kill mosquitoes without posing unreasonable risks to human health or the environment.

How is Naled Used in Mosquito Control?

Naled is used to kill adult mosquitoes. In mosquito control programs conducted by state or local authorities, naled is applied by truck-mounted or aircraft-mounted sprayers. Naled is applied as an ultra-low volume spray. ULV sprayers dispense very fine aerosol droplets that stay aloft and kill mosquitoes on contact. ULV applications involve small quantities of pesticide active ingredient in relation to the size of the area treated. For mosquito control, the maximum rate for ground and aerial application is 0.1 lb of active ingredient per acre, which minimizes exposure and risks to people and the environment.

Does Naled Pose Risks to Human Health?

Naled can be used for public health mosquito control programs without posing unreasonable risks to the general population when applied according to the label. We have estimated the exposure and risks to both adults and children posed by ULV aerial and ground applications of naled. Because of the very small amount of active ingredient released per acre of ground, the estimates found that for all scenarios considered, exposures were hundreds or even thousands of times below an amount that might pose a health concern. These estimates assumed several spraying events over a period of weeks, and also assumed that a toddler would ingest some soil and grass in addition to skin and inhalation exposure. However, at high doses, well above those for normal labeled uses, naled like other organophosphates, can overstimulate the nervous system causing nausea, dizziness, or confusion. Severe high-dose poisoning with any organophosphate can cause convulsions, respiratory paralysis and death.

Does Naled Pose Risks to Wildlife or the Environment?

Naled used in mosquito control programs does not pose unreasonable risks to wildlife or the environment. Naled degrades rapidly in the environment, and it displays low toxicity to birds and mammals. Acute and chronic risk to fish is not expected, but there is potential for risks to invertebrates from the repeated use of naled. Naled is highly toxic to insects, including beneficial insects such as honeybees. For that reason, we have established specific precautions on the label to reduce such risk.

What is the Current Regulatory Status of Naled?

As part of its responsibility to reassess all older pesticides registered before 1984, the EPA reviewed naled through the reregistration process. The naled Reregistration Eligibility Decision was completed in 2006. Further information is available from the naled’s RED factsheet (PDF)(152 pp, 2.42 MB, About PDF).

In 2009, naled entered the EPA's registration review program, which periodically evaluates whether each pesticide continues to meet current scientific and safety standards. The naled registration review is ongoing. For information see the Chemical Search Web page for naled.